A salad made of fresh radishes and lettuce, several types of soups, beef and chicken stews, yoghurt deserts, strawberries, raspberries and other fresh fruits. This menu is offered by the space “restaurant” created by Bulgarian scientists and the consumers are the astronauts in the orbital space stations. They are the lucky ones who first tried the taste of the space vegetables of the Bulgarian SVET space greenhouse.

In 1990, Bulgarian scientists proved that science fiction could turn into reality, because the plants could not only fly but also regenerate on the space stations. After long and unsuccessful attempts of Russian and American scholars, the Bulgarian scientists managed to create a greenhouse for the production of some fresh vegetables such as radishes, delicious lettuce, etc. With the development of the MIR-NASA space program from 1992 until 2000, the second generation of the greenhouse started to produce even bean sprouts. The Bulgarian scientists managed for the first time to produce wheat-ears and later make wheat flour out of them. The hothouse itself flew for 10 years in space. Thus, mankind made the first steps to provide fresh food for the long, two-year journey to the Red Planet (Mars). When people start to cultivate the moon, they will need vegetables. The greens will be delivered by the Bulgarian space hothouses.

Vine leaves stuffed with beef meat, meatball soup, goulash or meat and vegetable hash, beans casserole, meat hot-pot…This is only part of the "space menu" of Bulgarian scientists. It also includes yoghurt with oats flour, several types of apples, strawberries, peaches, nuts, melons, apricots, etc.

Bulgaria is popular among the space elite with the production of foods for astronauts. There are over 27 types of space food produced in Bulgaria, used not only in space, but also during expeditions to the Himalayas and Antarctica. There is a special technology called sublimation, used for the transformation of the dried soup into meal. The soup is frozen to -35°C and is later dried to powder, but the nutritive elements are preserved in it. In fact this is a dry food concentrate, prepared from real fresh products, without any preservatives and colors. The soup is wrapped in three layer air-proof aluminum foil and is ready for the flight. When the astronaut gets hungry he pours water over it and it gets back its original taste. The same thing refers to all delicious meals, fruits and vegetables.

Top chefs are the scientists from the Institute of Criobiology and Lyophilization at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences who can prepare over 50 different types of foods for astronauts. These foods can be grinded and turned into tablets which can be chewed as small pretzels. There are many fruits and vegetables in the menu and the meat dishes are made of chicken and beef only. This is so because the space diet prohibits the consumption of pork meat due to the high stress in the open space which could cause increased cholesterol levels in the human body.

The Bulgarian scientists came up with another important achievement. 28 years ago they developed the first probiotics foods with the Lactobacillus Bulgaricus bacteria designed for the “Intercosmos” space program. This is a bacteria used for the making of the Bulgarian yoghurt. Until 2000 these products were classified as secret ones and were produced under the name special foods.

In the distant 1979, when the first Bulgarian astronaut Georgi Ivanov went in space, the Bulgarian scientists sent him with an experimental package containing dried fruit, nuts and red pepper chutney (Luitenitsa). When the second Bulgarian astronaut Alexander Alexandrov was sent to space in 1988, there were a total of 25 types of meals including soups, stews and deserts designed for astronauts, because astronauts eat four times a day- two breakfasts, a lunch and a dinner.

April 12, the International Day of Aircraft and Astronautics, gives us a reason to feel proud with our membership in the elite club of the space countries. Bulgaria started to take part space programs back in 1969. Since then thousands of researches which flew in space were made. Bulgaria was the 18th space country and is among the 6 ones which have sent astronauts in the orbit. Moreover, Bulgaria was the third country after the USA and Russia which sent food to space.

Bulgaria holds the leadership with regard to development of vegetable space gardens, because it was the first country which grew real wheat, delicious radishes and crunchy green salads in space through its unique space greenhouse.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov